A correspondent with The Atlantic magazine's urban analysis arm, CityLab, visited the Queen City and said its streetcar system was going through "growing pains."

David Dudley said he waited the Saturday after Thanksgiving on Walnut Street for the streetcar. And waited. And waited. Until he said he saw one of the cars motionless a block or so up.

"There was a healthy crowd of Cincinnatians milling about the festive square, loading up on goetta sandwiches and checking out the volumetric massing of Zaha Hadid's Contemporary Arts Center nearby, but the Bell Connector seemed uninterested in getting in on the action," he said.

Dudley then looked to Enquirer coverage, which showed ridership for the streetcar had plummeted since its strong start, with daily November ridership at 1,664, far below the projected 3,200.

In October, Dudley wrote about how streetcars may not be the downtown boosters people expect, at least on their own, but that Cincinnati's was coming with some "economic momentum."

"It’s hard not to succumb to the charms of the streetcar, the frisky chocolate lab of urban transit," he said at the time.

Dudley agreed, however, with the detractors' point about the streetcar: They're more "tourist toys" than transportation systems, given their weekend popularity.

While cold weather may seem an obvious culprit for reduced ridership, Dudley pointed to Kansas City's new streetcar, which had 6,000 riders per day in November. And they're actually looking to add an extension to the line.

The big problem with the streetcar, Dudley said, is that it's a 19th century conveyance re-imposing itself on a late 20th century traffic plan.

City Council said a new traffic study -- the first in 20 years -- would cost $300,000, but no formal plan has been drafted.